Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Motorvatin' and hibernatin'.

Today is your last chance to catch Rock and/or Roll Tuesdays at The Pontiac this month! I'm taking the next few weeks off while I fine tune the evening, try to line up some promotions and such, and schedule some cool guest DJs. When I return in February the night will move to a bi-weekly schedule, which should help make each happening a bit more of a, well, happening. The only downside I can see to this is that Photogal now needs to occasionally share the TV with me on Tuesdays, so there may be some fights over the remote.

Anyway, I wanted to make sure I left everyone salivating for the next good time, so I've enlisted DJ mad love to help me close-out the weekly event before the hiatus. I've spun with her a couple other places around town and always love what she plays, so I'm hoping lots of folks show up, drink in some early rock vibes and then help us turn the night into a dance party later in the evening.


I've also got a truckload of new stuff to play. Lots of cool remixes and such, as well as brand new stuff from Bloc Party, The Ponys, The Assembly, The Good, The Bad And The Queen, Of Montreal, Panthers, and Fu Manchu. And more, but I don't want to give everything away.

__________

The weaker side of Bauer.

So I was thinking of Jack Bauer, and I was thinking how we never see his daughter Kim anymore, and I was thinking about why that is. Children of main characters are often trotted out and placed in jeopardy to heighten tension and provide the main character with emotionally wrenching decisions. The problem with this story machination is that, in the case of Kim Bauer, she is so pointless we actually feel enmity towards Jack when he decides to break a mission to help her.

Think about it. Kim Bauer is one of the few (with the exception of murderous baddies (and even not always then)) characters on 24 whose demise we root for!* So when she is in peril, and Jack rescues her, the viewer reflexively goes, "Why?!" Yes, on the surface we see a man coming to the aid of his offspring, but as far as our emotional investment in the story, 24's writers have done zero to make Kim Bauer a character we feel any empathy for.

Maybe that's why they've tried to break Jack down a bit this season. I mean, if he can't tell that a suspect needs further torture, and he cries over something as silly as killing one of his closest allies at CTU, then it stands to reason he might just be addled enough to care the next time Kim gets chased by a cougar, right?

RELATED: Check out these Jack Bauer facts. This is my favorite: "Superman has Jack Bauer pajamas." Word.

*This is no fault of Elisha Cuthbert's, though, since we would happily watch her run around in ridiculous clothes for 24 straight hours ... we just want to make sure that point is plain. It's Kim that's the doofus.

__________

Chicagoist.com in Chicago magazine.

Check this out. We rule.

__________

And finally, a silly kitty.

No comments: